


Day 5- Time

by sometimesmybraindoesntwork



Series: TUC Week 2019 [5]
Category: The Underland Chronicles - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Panic Attack, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, The Underland Chronicles Fandom Week, i think, post COC, tuc week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-07-08 13:34:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19870480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sometimesmybraindoesntwork/pseuds/sometimesmybraindoesntwork
Summary: Gregor has a panic attack of sorts? sensory overload? I don't really know





	Day 5- Time

**Author's Note:**

> I'm actually kind of proud of this one. I didn't have a plan and just let my brain run. Also we're nearly at the end! Only two more days.

Time had not been kind to Gregor. His year-long stay in the Underland had affected him greatly, both physically and mentally, leaving scars all over his figure and plaguing every sleeping minute with nightmares. But that was years ago, four years, eight months and thirteen days ago to be precise. Now, he had grown used to the odd looks when he wore long shirts and track pants in the summer, used to the terrors that woke him almost every night, leaving him drenched in sweat. That didn’t mean it made it any easier whenever Maggie accidentally said crawler instead of cockroach, or when he nearly lost control after Lizzie came home with a big fresh bruise on her face. 

After they had made the move to Virginia, Gregor had been given his own room, an entire floor really, his room was the attic at the top of the house, as close as he could get to the stars without leaving the atmosphere. It had been decorated before he got there and it hadn’t changed much in the years he had lived there, but on the first night, he noticed a tiny detail he never would have at day, when it was loud and bright. A soft _tick, tick, tick, tick, tick,_ infiltrated his brain, a clock that was hanging on the wall. He tried to push the sound away but each tick seemed to be getting louder until the sounds of crickets and soft footsteps from his parents’ room faded away and all that he could hear was a booming **_Tick, Tick, Tick_**. He quickly got out of bed, disorientated by the loudness of it all, and tried to cross the room to where the clock was hanging on the wall. 

Stumbling around he finally managed to grab it off the hook and turn it over, Gregor tried to open the back to take out the batteries but he didn’t have a screwdriver and in this state, he probably couldn’t keep his hands steady enough to use it. He decided to try and break it, by throwing it a bit harder than necessary against the wall. In one hit the clock smashed, bits of plastic and glass flew through the air. But the ticking continued, in his mind, he could hear the words he had come to associate with the constant beat of a clock.

_The war has been declared,_  
Your ally been ensnared.  
It is now or it is never.  
Break the code or die forever. 

No, he couldn’t keep reliving these words.

_To the warrior give my blade.  
By his hand your fate is made._

Sandwich's sword, that damn sword had caused so much death. 

_Since the princess is the key  
To unlock the treachery._

Lizzie, poor Lizzie she had been trapped in this war, just like everyone else. He tried to clap his hands over his ears, nearly screaming to keep the next words out of his head.

_When the monster's blood is spilled,  
When the warrior has been killed._

He couldn’t stop the violent sobs that escaped his lips, tears streaming down his cheeks. That prophecy depicted so much death, so much hurt and pain and sorrow. Sure, Gregor may not be dead, but his soul was. It had been torn and burned and left him to deal with the consequences. He was crying so hard his entire body was shaking, slowly sinking to the floor Gregor curled into a tight ball and sobbed. 

That night had shaken him badly, every click or tap had nearly set him off. It had been hell going back to school after that, each classroom tick tick ticking away, tormenting his already broken mind. After every school day, it took so much effort just to loosen up and calm down, meaning that by the time he started his homework, it was already dinner time. It was so exhausting having to stay focused ninety percent of the day, the only time he really got to relax was when he was drifting off to sleep.


End file.
